{"id":33892,"date":"2025-09-12T07:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T05:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/addtowantlist.com\/?p=33892"},"modified":"2025-09-12T09:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T07:18:51","slug":"album-review-richard-root-the-fancy-band-my-way-or-the-highway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/addtowantlist.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/12\/album-review-richard-root-the-fancy-band-my-way-or-the-highway\/","title":{"rendered":"New album: Richard Root & The Fancy band || My Way Or The Highway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard Root (not his real name) started out behind the drum kit, playing garage pop with Toboggan Man<\/a> and classic rock with Social Meteor<\/a> back in Michigan. Songwriting was only an occasional role, but he always dreamt of fronting a punk band\u2014which Richard Root & The Fancy Band isn\u2019t quite yet, though the road may still lead there.<\/p>\n

After moving to Brazil for love, the combination of a language barrier and a lack of musical connections gave Root the space to focus on his own songs. Over two years, he sharpened his string playing, fine-tuned his material, and learned to record with help from family and friends. The result is his solo debut My Way Or The Highway<\/em>, out now on Knuckles on Stun (tape).<\/p>\n

The 14 tracks are restless and full of surprises\u2014garage rock and classic rock at the core, but with disco (Hang On To Me<\/em>), funk (Freakin\u2019 Out<\/em>), and even a punk-ish take on Todd Rundgren\u2019s I Saw The Light<\/em>. It\u2019s quirky indie rock at heart, like a double rainbow of styles, and an ambitious effort from a songwriter still finding his identity but clearly hitting a creative stride.<\/p>\n